Help the Scrum Master IS the Impediment

The change in mindset necessary to become a servant leader is incredibly hard for a scrum master who comes from command and control background. As a newly minted Professional Scrum Master (PSM I), I returned to my team excited and ready to get underway with a scrum adoption. Unfortunately, I had not fully grasped the concept of servant leadership. Instead of being a change agent, I was an impediment.

My own cautionary tale is unfortunately a common one. Well meaning people with 2 day certifications can do a lot of damage to a new scrum team. Attendees will learn about the difficulties of becoming a scrum master, how scrum team members need to embrace the scrum values to promote healthy team practices, and that even certified scrum masters can lose their way.

10.
“Regardless of what we discover, we understand
and truly believe that everyone did the best job
they could, given what they knew at the time, their
skills and abilities, the resources available, and
the situation at hand.”
--Norm Kerth, Project Retrospectives: A Handbook for Team Reviews